CONTROVERSIAL plans to allow a local businessman to run a 24-hour vehicle recovery business within metres of homes in Greenodd have been given the go-ahead in a close-run vote at South Lakeland District Council.

Applicant Ian Curwen was applying for permission for the third time to pave over land behind the service station at Greenodd, close to the A590, to make 59 parking spaces for "short term" storage of vehicles recovered after crashes or breakdowns.

Neville Hayden, of Main Street, Greenodd, was among four villagers who spoke against the application at the meeting.

He told the committee that Mr Curwen had been using the site for his vehicle recovery business for the last 12 months without authorisation from SLDC and accused him of "massaging" the figures when he claimed his business would create three jobs and of underplaying the amount of activity at the site.

Another resident, Stuart Walker, told the meeting residents had experienced serious noise pollution over the last year at all hours of day and night and said Mr Curwen had shown "disregard" for the planning committee's previous dismissal of the previous applications and was therefore unlikely to take notice of conditions they might apply this time.

Mr Curwen was not at the meeting to respond.

Recommending approval for the scheme, planning officer Nick Hayhurst told the committee that Mr Curwen had appealed against the committee's decision to turn down an earlier application.

He said Mr Curwen might win the appeal as there were insufficient grounds for turning him down. But he said Mr Curwen had agreed to withdraw his appeal if the committee approved his current application and giving the go-ahead now would at least allow members to impose some conditions on the permission.

Opposing the application, SLDC member for Greenodd, Noel Spendlove, said vehicle recovery was "inherently noisy" and "inappropriate for Greenodd".

Committee members voted six to six on the issue, but chairman Janet Jenkinson used her casting vote to decide in favour of Mr Curwen.

The plans were approved with conditions that the site be adequately screened with trees, that Mr Curwen's recovery vehicles did not use reversing alarms at night and that the site be used only as storage and not for other work.

The Environment Agency will also have to approve the hard surface and drainage arrangements.